Federated Hermes Inc. Purchases 287,362 Shares of Aflac Incorporated $AFL

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 6,692.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 291,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 287,362 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.05% of Aflac worth $30,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AFL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Aflac in the 2nd quarter worth $432,201,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Aflac in the first quarter valued at $140,746,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Aflac by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,167,886 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $439,545,000 after buying an additional 594,971 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Aflac in the second quarter valued at $60,954,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Aflac by 459.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 701,390 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $73,969,000 after purchasing an additional 575,915 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.44% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Stock Performance

Shares of AFL stock opened at $107.93 on Wednesday. Aflac Incorporated has a 52-week low of $96.95 and a 52-week high of $115.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $110.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.66.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 27th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter. Aflac had a return on equity of 14.97% and a net margin of 23.55%.The company had revenue of $5.91 billion for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.88 EPS for the current year.

Aflac announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, August 12th that allows the company to repurchase 100,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Aflac Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from Aflac’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. Aflac’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Audrey B. Tillman sold 15,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.00, for a total transaction of $1,776,544.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 230,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,837,056. This represents a 6.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Steven Kent Beaver sold 3,452 shares of Aflac stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.26, for a total value of $377,165.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,860 shares in the company, valued at $4,792,143.60. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 26,274 shares of company stock worth $2,948,167 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Aflac from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Aflac from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Aflac in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Aflac from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Aflac from $107.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Aflac presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.00.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.